Tougher and more severe sentences are part of unprecedented criminal reform to combat violence against women that include stalking, harassment and female genital mutilation, said Justice Minister Ionas Nicolaou.
Presenting the proposed legislation Nicolaou said it was the first time that Cyprus was introducing such extensive changes to fight gender-based violence.
For rape, the maximum sentence remains life, attempted rape imprisonment increases from 10 to 15 years, indecent assault against women goes from two years to ten-year imprisonment, assaulting a minor under the age of 13, the sentence remains life and attempted assault from three to 15 years jail.
Assaulting a woman with a mental health disorder and/or mental disability, the prison sentence is increased from two to 20 years, illegal detention of a woman goes from five to 10 years imprisonment, indecent assault from two years to five years, causing severe physical injury carries a 12-year sentence from 7.
Causing injury will be punishable with seven years in jail, up from three and common assault with three years in jail and/or €5000 fine, up from one year in jail and 1000 pounds (1700 euro).
The penalty for stalking will rise from three to five years as will that of sexual harassment. Forcing a woman to have an abortion will be punishable with life imprisonment (currently 14 years) while the penalty for female genital mutilation will double from five to 10 years.
Sexual assault at work will also go from three to five years or a €10,000 fine or both.
If a woman, in a vulnerable position as a result of mental or physical disability or dependency, is assaulted, the offender faces imprisonment of up to 20 years.
If the assault takes place due to coercion, violence or threat, the offender is also subject to 20 years in jail.
The minister said the new bill, reforms, modernizes and widens the existing legislative framework to combat violence against women, further enhancing the protection of women and minors who have been subjected to violence and attempted to escape it.
It is a complete set of preventative actions that handles all forms of violence that are included in the Council of Europe’s Convention to combat violence against women and domestic violence, said Nicolaou.
The Minister further said that the government is preparing a bill that will criminalise behaviours such as stalking.
“Violence against women, especially domestic violence, is a rising social phenomenon, that knows no cultural, economic or geographic boundaries and stems from social stereotypes and prejudices that are based on a man’s power over a woman,” said Commissioner for Gender Equality, Iosifina Antoniou.
Antoniou said that the new bill for the first time defines violence as gender-based and provides for an increase in sentences thus strengthening the legal framework.
She said women on a daily basis, suffer pain and humiliation and for them to be able to escape from this grim situation, they must be certain that when they decide to take matters into their own hands, they will find support and the right treatment.
“It is everyone’s duty to create the conditions that will allow these women to get back on their feet and continue with their lives,” the Commissioner said.
The Commissioner for Gender Equality also expressed the wish that society does not witness again unfair sentences and that citing various mitigating circumstances will not alter the substance of the sentences provided by the new bill.
